Hosni Mubarak’s attempt to delay his departure has uncanny echoes of another former world leader, Gordon Brown, who made a similar ploy last May after the Labour party came second in the general election.
As you may remember, the UK prime minister said that he would go…but not until September. Mubarak has given himself the same autumnal deadline, saying he will not run in the Egyptian elections this September.
The technique didn’t work for Brown, who eventually quit when he saw the Tories and Lib Dems were moving towards a coalition. Others suspect that Mubarak will not remain in power for seven months.
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey